Vendetta: High Art and Low Cunning at the Birth of the RenaissanceFederigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, was the archetypal 'Renaissance man': a brilliant soldier, scholar and ally of the pope, he spent much of the vast wealth earned through his military adventures on commissioning artists such as Raphael and Bramante to decorate the churches and palaces of the city.Sigismondo Malatesta, lord of the neighbouring city of Rimini, was also a brilliant soldier and generous patron of the arts. Over the course of his life, he and Federigo were locked in an epic feud which saw them fight as mercenaries for and against just about every Italian ruler of note, so long as the other was on the opposite side.Together they epitomised the spirit of the condottieri - the contract army leaders who drove the explosion of new political, commercial and artistic ideas that has since become known as the Renaissance. Using the rivalry between the two as a focus, the author explores the much-neglected story of the military Renaissance - a time of almost constant warfare between the Italian states. The cast of characters includes Machiavelli, the first of the Borgias, the Medici of Florence, the Sforzas of Milan and Vlad 'the Impaler' Dracula - and also Michelangelo, Rafael and Leonardo da Vinci. Written by the critically-acclaimed and bestselling author Hugh Bicheno, it is a description of how military adventurers fought, poisoned, raped and sodomized their way through fifteenth century Italy, and also produced some of the most enduringly beautiful works of art ever seen. |
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Vendetta: High Art and Low Cunning at the Birth of the Renaissance Hugh Bicheno No preview available - 2009 |
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Alessandro Alfonso allied Antonio army Astorre II Manfredi attack battle became become brother built campaign captain captain-general Cardinal Carlo castle cause cavalry century Cesena Church clan command commission Company condottieri Count daughter death defeated died domain Domenico Duke Emperor enemy Fano father Federico fighting Filippo Maria finally Florence forces Forlì Francesco Galeazzo Galeotto Gian Giovanni Guidantonio Guido hands heir Isotta Italian Italy joined killed King lands late later legitimated lord lost Malatesta Marche marriage married Mastin Milan military Montefeltro murdered Naples Niccolò once Ordelaffi Pandolfo Papacy papal peace perhaps Pesaro Piccinino Pius Pope reason recover remained Rimini Roberto Romagna Roman Rome rule San Marino Senigallia sent Sforza Sigismondo sons succession took towers town turn Urbino valley Venetian Venice Visconti walls